Can authors make their own book covers?

As a general rule, from my own experience, the larger the publisher, the less likely it is for the author to be able to make the cover, and the less input they'll have. (It's a general rule, not an absolute.)

I had a fair amount of input with Five Star, and I know one or two authors there who had artist friends do the cover. With DAW, the first I heard about the cover was when the editor e-mailed me a courtesy copy of the final artwork.

On the other hand, I thought the DAW artwork was far superior, for what that's worth.

In general, we don't include the author in our cover design process. We get a lot of feedback from our sales and distribution staff about what sells well where, and while I appreciate ideas from our authors we really would rather not add another voice to the mix. If the author absolutely hates it I will certainly listen to his or her comments, but quite frankly I listen far more closely to what our marketing/sales/distribution team says than the author.

gwendy85 said:

I know that the publishing world have their own artists to make to cover art of novels, but is a writer allowed to make the cover him/herself? If not, does the writer have a say at how the cover should look like?

Just curious, because I'm yet to hear of a writer making his/her own cover...

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Why would you want to do this? You might be a good artist, but book covers are about marketing, not about art. Write the words, and leave the cover to the people who get the big bucks for knowing what will attract the public.

As a painter and writer, I have grand ideas for my bookcover. (we will see if the people in the business of selling books are receptive I'm guessing that they are going to say no, but as I've found out, it never hurts to ask. Of course first my book has to sell, but it would be so cool if I could design the cover. I already have it on my webpage.

As a painter and writer, I have grand ideas for my bookcover. (we will see if the people in the business of selling books are receptive I'm guessing that they are going to say no, but as I've found out, it never hurts to ask. Of course, first my book has to sell, but it would be so cool if I could design the cover. I already have it on my webpage.

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Elizabeth Slick said:

As a painter and writer, I have grand ideas for my bookcover. (we will see if the people in the business of selling books are receptive I'm guessing that they are going to say no, but as I've found out, it never hurts to ask. Of course first my book has to sell, but it would be so cool if I could design the cover. I already have it on my webpage.

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Odds are you won't know a thing about the cover until it arrives in the mail. And even should you be allowed to do the cover, you would still have to do one of the type the marketing department wants and approves.

Writers can't seem to get past the notion that covers are not about art, they're about marketing, and unless you know marketing inside out, have seen the research letting marketers know why potential book buyers are drawn to one cover and repelled by another, you stand very little chance of being allowed to do a cover, or of coming up with a cover that has marketing significance.

Even the best painter/artist in the world likely has no clue at all about why and how the marketers pick and choose a particular cover.

Do you know how anyone interested might learn more about it? Would we look in the marketing sections of the local bookstore or is it something that mostly comes with being involved in that facet of the business?

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BardSkye said:

Do you know how anyone interested might learn more about it? Would we look in the marketing sections of the local bookstore or is it something that mostly comes with being involved in that facet of the business?

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If you really want to learn about covers, I'd suggest doing two things. Yes, look at many covers in bookstores, but also try to land a gig painting covers for publishers. Most publishers are always on the lookout for a really good artist who can do what they want done at a reasonable price.

Marketing, selling, marketing, selling...

What ever happened to "Don't judge a book by its cover" ??



That all makes sense, though. Still, if I ever got a book out there, I would like some say in the cover, if just a small voice.

wow. I learned something new again today. I never thought about it, I guess I just assumed that someone worked with the author to create the cover.
I'd like to hear some comments from some people here who have had books published. How did you react the first time you saw the cover, etc. Like, Maestro or anyone else who has had a book published. Just curious.

With the cover DAW did for Goblin Quest, I loved it. The artist had obviously read the book (which doesn't always happen). Even the details, like the hole in the toe of Jig's boot, were spot on. And it captured the feel of the book, even if it wasn't precisely true to the story. (Jig would never face a dragon -- he'd run away at the first opportunity.)

At the same time, it wasn't perfect. Little details kept nagging at me. Jig's skin tone was too bright. The spider wasn't quite the right color. I didn't know if I liked the positioning of my name over the title. Lots of little nitpicks, because it's my book, and I wanted it to be absolutely perfect.

...which is probably a good argument for keeping the author out of the process. I got lucky -- this is a good cover, and it will do it's job. A cover doesn't have to be 100% true to the story and the author's vision. It has to grab someone's interest and get them to pick up the book. I think Mel Grant (the artist) did an amazing job.

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September skies said:

wow. I learned something new again today. I never thought about it, I guess I just assumed that someone worked with the author to create the cover.
I'd like to hear some comments from some people here who have had books published. How did you react the first time you saw the cover, etc. Like, Maestro or anyone else who has had a book published. Just curious.

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I've had one novel publlished with a cover I absolutely hated, and one publlished that I thought had the best cover I've ever seen.

The latter was The Wagon Wars, my last hardcover western with Walker Books. It dealt with the way muleskinners used big wagons for hauling freight using long strings of mules. From somewhere, Walker found an actual photo of a mule train, and it was beautiful. Better than any painting could possibly have been. The photo was also in the public domain, which made it cheaper, but that's beside the point.

The rest of the covers I've had range somewhere in the middle, but I've been far more pleased than displeased with all of them except that single one I despised.

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crypticquill said:

Marketing, selling, marketing, selling...

What ever happened to "Don't judge a book by its cover" ??



That all makes sense, though. Still, if I ever got a book out there, I would like some say in the cover, if just a small voice.

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Well, it's sort of like bees and flowers. The point of a cover isn't to sell a book, or even to make readers think it's a good book. Like the colors on a flower, the point is to attract the bee from a distance.

Once the cover catches the reader's eye in a pleasing manner, it's hoped the reader will then stick his nose inside and take a good sniff.

It's a process. Cover from a distance. Then the title. Then the Jacket copy. Then page one.

Page one is what sells the novel, but you can't sell something unless you first draw a reader to it, then make him pick it up, then make him want to go to page one.

Jamesaritchie said:

If you really want to learn about covers, I'd suggest doing two things. Yes, look at many covers in bookstores, but also try to land a gig painting covers for publishers. Most publishers are always on the lookout for a really good artist who can do what they want done at a reasonable price.

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Thanks, Jamesaritchie. I might try that when I get some free time. Do you think I could impress them by bragging that I just finished designing a new beer label?

Jamesaritchie said:

Well, it's sort of like bees and flowers. The point of a cover isn't to sell a book, or even to make readers think it's a good book. Like the colors on a flower, the point is to attract the bee from a distance.

Once the cover catches the reader's eye in a pleasing manner, it's hoped the reader will then stick his nose inside and take a good sniff.

It's a process. Cover from a distance. Then the title. Then the Jacket copy. Then page one.

Page one is what sells the novel, but you can't sell something unless you first draw a reader to it, then make him pick it up, then make him want to go to page one.

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Fantastic way of putting it. Thank you

Jamesaritchie said:

Odds are you won't know a thing about the cover until it arrives in the mail. And even should you be allowed to do the cover, you would still have to do one of the type the marketing department wants and approves.

Writers can't seem to get past the notion that covers are not about art, they're about marketing, and unless you know marketing inside out, have seen the research letting marketers know why potential book buyers are drawn to one cover and repelled by another, you stand very little chance of being allowed to do a cover, or of coming up with a cover that has marketing significance.

Even the best painter/artist in the world likely has no clue at all about why and how the marketers pick and choose a particular cover.

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As long as they don't make me have a high heeled shoe on the cover, or a fluffy boa thingy with leopard print something or a cutesy hand bag, I will be okay with it!
If I see one more novel with any of these things on the cover, I am going to puke.

I suspect that's exactly why artists and marketers differ. Artists always want to explore the limits, where marketers want what has already been proven to work.

I would probably make a very poor marketer.

Elizabeth Slick said:

If I see one more novel with any of these things on the cover, I am going to puke.

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Amen to that.

Those shoes and handbags may be annoying and trite, but they sure telegraph what kind of book they're selling. To a buyer or a marketer, that's terrific--there's no guesswork, you know where to put the book, you know who is going to pick it up, etc. It's the same reason that most romance novels look remarkably alike, and most thrillers use the same block letters on a dark background, etc. etc.

I received a form from Mundania Press asking what I wanted on the cover and what I thought would work... they sent me a totally faboo cover which I'm thrilled with.

I would have never thought of vetoing a cover if it had been approved by the various departments who know what SELLS and what DOESN'T. Unless I have the experience to counter it, who am I to say what's going to look good on a store shelf?

*points to avatar*

me like!

Using your book cover as your avatar is something I would consider brilliant marketing. Looks great, too!

thank you - I daresay that I'd put it up against any large publishing house's art department for being a good looking cover!

my two cents

gwendy85 said:

I know that the publishing world have their own artists to make to cover art of novels, but is a writer allowed to make the cover him/herself? If not, does the writer have a say at how the cover should look like?

Just curious, because I'm yet to hear of a writer making his/her own cover...

Click to expand...

I guess it depends on a few factors -- like if you're with a smaller publisher, you might get more input on your cover. And if you're a big name author, then you likely get input.

I suppose it's also possible in cases of children's picture books that you might have an author/illustrator, in which case they would do their own cover. But I think that's rare as publishers prefer children's authors not to submit art with their manuscripts.

I took a book design course recently where a designer from a big house came in for one lecture. He described the process he goes through to do a cover (we're talking mass market fiction here). I'll try to summarize: He reads the back cover blurb for the book (some designers actually read the books, or parts of the book). Then he meets with the art director & they brainstorm concepts. He goes away and comes up with various mockups. He goes back to the art director with his top selections. She takes the options to marketing. They yay or nay. They may go back to square one, getting him to do new mockups if they don't like any of them. When they do choose one, the designer goes back and does a final version of the cover (they would commission artwork or photography at this stage). Next the publisher prints postcards of the covers, with marketing info on the back, and sends it out to bookstores. They get feedback from the stores, i.e. how may copies would they order. If they don't get enough sales, they will actually re-do the whole process from the beginning with an entirely new cover. (Though I think that doesn't happen too often that they re-do it once they've gotten that far.)

Basically, it's pretty marketing driven, which drives the art people nuts!

I like the bee/flower metaphor. Scott Richardson (designer at Random House Canada) says a book cover has a quarter of a second to catch someone's eye in a bookstore.

MR

And speaking of using book covers for avatars...

You seem to have started something wonderful. I just might jump on that bandwagon myself.